Shakib — who had sent Evin Lewis and Nichloas Pooran back to the hut — scored 124 not out off just 99 deliveries to help Bangladesh pull off a stunner. The flamboyant all-rounder put up a show with 16 boundaries, hitting the ball at every nook and cranny of the ground to bag the Man of the Match trophy.
Shakib Al Hasan in action during his 124-run innings against West Indies at The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton on Monday. (Photo: Twitter/@cricketworldcup)
Bangladesh defeated West Indies by 7 wickets at The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton on Monday, thanks to a Shakib Al Hasan-ton.
Shakib — who had sent Evin Lewis and Nichloas Pooran back to the hut — scored 124 not out off just 99 deliveries to help Bangladesh pull off a stunner. The flamboyant all-rounder put up a show with 16 boundaries, hitting the ball at every nook and cranny of the ground to bag the Man of the Match trophy. Riding on this knock, Shakib also became the leading run scorer at this World Cup with 384 runs in 4 matches at an average of 128.
Winning the toss on a batting-belter, Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza invited West Indies to bat.
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Chris Gayle fell for a 13-ball duck to Mohammad Saifuddin but Evin Lewis (70) and Shai Hope (96) knitted 104 runs for the second wicket and erected the Windies spine.
With Shimron Hetmyer’s attacking innings (50 off 26) in the middle overs and captain Jason Holder’s 33 off 15 towards the end, West Indies scored 321 runs for the loss of eight wickets in 50 overs.
Saifuddin and Mustafizur Rahman took three wickets apiece while Shakib scalped two.
Chasing the target, Bangladesh lost Soumya Sarkar (29) when the scorecard read 52. Though a target of 322 was not much threatening for the Bengal Tigers, they needed someone to play the anchor innings and Shakib was the man on duty. The no. 1 ODI all-rounder took his toll on the Caribbean and scored 124 not out to take Bangladesh over the line with 51 balls to spare.
The credit for Bangladesh’s victory also goes to the Windies bowlers who kept bowling short balls — carrying a hangover from their match against Pakistan — and outpoured runs to make things a cakewalk for Bangladesh. The Tigers gleefully accepted the offer to make it to the 5th spot in the points table with their second win in 5 matches so far.
Brief scores: West Indies: 321/8 in 50 overs (Shai Hope 96, Evin Lewis 70, Shimron Hetmyer 50; Mustafizur Rahman 3/59, Mohammad Saifuddin 3/72) lost to Bangladesh: 322/3 in 41.3 overs (Shakib Al Hasan 124 not out, Liton Das 94 not out) by seven wickets
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